How to Prune Palms' Side Sprouts

Pruning tools with curved blades work best for larger branches and suckers.

The palm (Arecaceae) family is extensive and includes about 2,500 species. Varieties either have a single trunk or grow side sprouts to become multi-trunked palms. The Senegal date palm (Phoenix reclinata) grows well in full sun in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11. The European fan palm (Chamaerops humilis) grows well in the same conditions in well-drained soil in zones 8 through 10. Both of these palms are of the clumping variety. Pruning the side sprouts off clumping palms correctly enables you to shape a palm tree or to propagate it from suckers. Pruning is best done in late spring or summer when suckers are 6 inches in diameter.

1

Pour one part bleach and three parts water into a bowl. Stir the disinfecting solution with a spoon. Immerse a curved blade pruning saw into the liquid and allow it to soak for about five minutes. Remove the saw and rinse it thoroughly with water.

2

Place the pruning saw blade on the area where a sprout attaches to the main trunk of the palm tree. Side sprouts develop on the bottom of the trunk next to the ground.

3

Hold the side sprout in one hand and saw straight down on the sucker. Use slow, long strokes to saw through the side sprout completely.

4

Remove each unwanted side sprout in the same manner. You may trim a clumping or clustering palm back to a solitary main truck or allow some of the side sprouts to grow. Multi-trunked palm trees generally have an odd number of trunks for aesthetic purposes.

5

Spray a liberal amount of liquid copper fungicide on each area of the palm tree with exposed wood from the cuts. Copper fungicide prevents diseases and pests from entering the wood of trees and causing the tree to decline or die.

Things You Will Need

Bowl

Household bleach

Water

Spoon

Curved blade pruning saw

Liquid copper fungicide

Tip

Removing side sprouts directs a tree's energy into growing taller, rather than wider.

Warning

Do not water palm trees immediately after removing side sprouts because it will wash off the liquid copper fungicide that protects the tree.